Clothes-hanger.



Wg-J. miomPsoN.- A

CLOTHES HANGER APPLOATIOI FILED SEPT. '26, 1907. Patented Dec.' Y

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

w. J. THOMPSON. CLOTHES HANGER.

APPLICATION FILBD'SBPT. 26, 1907.

Patentd Dec. 15, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED sTATEs ,PATENT oEEIcE.

WILLIAM J. THOMPSON, OF BURLINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA.

CLOTHES-HANGER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. THOMP- SON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Burlington, in the county of Alamance and State of North Carolina, have invented a new and useful Clothes-Hanger, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in clothes hangers designed for the support of clothes in drying after being washed, and which hanger when not in use for drying clothes may be folded up into small compass.

The invention comprises essentially a suitable hub mounted for rotation upon a vertical axis, and this hub carries a number of radial arms in a circular series, the said arms being pivotally connected to the hub in such manner as to be permitted to fold down against a support, or these arms may be moved to the horizontal position and will then lock in such position against accidental displacement. The arms are provided with retaining devices for the clothes, these retaining devices being arranged either on the sides or edges of the arms, and coacting therewith to retain the clothes.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which,-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the standard and a vertical section of the hub for carrying the arms, the arms being shown in the extended position; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the hanger; Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 except that the parts are shown in the folded position; Fig. i is a cross section through the lower end of the standard; and Fig. 5 isa detail view of one of the arms.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a post 1 forming the stem of a suitable standard, which post has at the upper end a centrally projecting pin 2 and at the lower end this post is expanded into a base portion 3 having four radial recesses 4 disposed ninety degrees apart, and these recesses receive the ends 5 of legs 6, the other ends of which are designed to engage with the Hoor or ground, as the case may be, upon which the structure rests. The heads 5 of the legs 6 are seated in the recesses 4 and are held therein by pivot pins 7 so that the legs may be folded up alongside of the stem 1, as

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 26, 1907.

Patented Dec. 15, 1908.

Serial No. 394,721.

shown in Fig. 3, or may be -moved around their pivots until the free ends of the legs rest at points remote from one another to constitute a broad supporting base for the post or standard 1. The position of the legs 6 when extended is determined by the meeting of the edges S of these legs, which edges are disposed at angles of forty-five degrees to the side faces of the heads 5, so that the edges 8 of any one head will be received between the corresponding edges of two other adjacent heads, and the edges S will all come together in two planes at right angles to each other and displaced forty-live degrees with reference to the two diametric planes in which the legs themselves are located. The meeting edges 8 are slightly curved so that they do not meet along the entire length but only at the lower-most portions when the legs are extended. This provides for the turning of the legs about the axis of the pivot pins 7 without interfering one with the other, since the uppermost part of the meeting edges 8 are, because of their curvature, never brought into contact when the legs are turned about their pivots. IVhen these lower ends of the meeting edges 8 are in contact the op osite edges 9 of the heads 5 have a slight are in a downward direction, and when the legs are in this position a ring 10, carried by the stem 1 and movable thereon, is made to engage over these flaring edges 9 so as to clamp them in position. There is thus provided for the standard 1 a broad firm base made up of the legs 6 which, when the ring 10 is in operative relation thereto, firmly support the standard 1, but which legs, when the ring 10 is removed therefrom, may be readily folded up against the standard as shown in Fig. 3. The ring l0 is made to firmly clamp the heads 5 of the legs but at the same time it may be easily removed therefrom when desired because of the tapering faces 9 of these legs. The faces 9 may, if desired,be slightly rounded to conform to the circular interior of the ring 10.

.screws 14 or other fastening devices which may enter the hub and so secure the brackets in place. These brackets have each two parallel wings 15 joined on their upper edges for a portion of their length by an integral overhang 16, and extending across the wings near theirl outer ends is a pin 17 supported by and connected to these wings. These bracket-s are designed to each carry an arm 18 having one end formed near one side with a curved slot 19. Each arm 18 is mounted upon a corresponding pin 17 so as to move thereon for a distance determined by the length of the slot 19. The parts are so proportioned that when a pin 17 is in that end of a slot 19 near the corresponding end of an arm 18 the said arm 18 may be turned about the pin 17 as a pivot, while its extreme end 21 will pass by the end of the overhang 16 and the arm 18=may therefore be swung about the pivot 17 through a vertical plane from a pendent position to a horizontal position and then moved toward the axis of the hub 11 until the pin- 17 is at the end of the slot 19 remote from the end 21 of the arm. rIhe end 21 of the arm now being beneath the overhang 16 the said arm 18 may be released, and its weight will cause it to drop until the arm is stopped by the pin 17, the end 21 of the arm engaging under the overhang 16. Then in this position the arm 18 is locked against movement either in a horizontal direction or about the pin 17 as a pivot, and, consequently, it is thus retained in the horizontal position and may be used in the manner to be described. The slot 19 is slightly curved in the direction of the length of the arm 18 so as to resist any tendency of the arm being pulled longitudinally outward and so have its end 21 escape from under the overhang 16.

Each arm 18 is provided with clothes-retaining devices consisting of strips 22 fastened at intervals by staples 23 or other fastening means and between these points curved away from the arm to form bends 24 standing out from the arm a suflicient distance to receive the articles to be supported by said arm or suitable fastening devices therefor, such as clothes pins. In the drawings these bends 24 are shown quite widely separated in proportion to the size of the arms, but it will be understood that in the practical embodiment of the invention they may be located quite close together. The strips 22 may be made of wire appropriately bent, and a single wire strand may be started near the pivoted end of an arm and carried around the outer end of said arm, where it is formed into a loop 25, and then returned on the other side of the arm to a point opposite the point of starting, the entire series of bends and the end loop being formed of one piece of wire suitably secured to the arm. The bends provide for the insertion of the clothes which may'then be clamped or gripped between the wire strands and the adjacent surface of the respective arm. Some of the arms are provided with these supports extending along the side faces of the arms and other arms are provided with similar' strands extending along their top and bottom edges. In this manner many articles may be hung to dry from each arm; in fact, by the use of two series of supporting means on each arm the capacity of said arm is doubled.

`Where the portability of the device is not of great moment the standard 1 may be fixed, as, for instance, by having its lower end buried in the ground, and the hanger is then useful in the same manner as when mounted upon a portable standard. Where it is not necessary that the arms be rotatable the brackets 12 may be fastenedvdirectly to a wall and the arms may be raised or lowered as occasion requires.

lhen clothes are to be hung upon the hanger for drying purposes, then a single arm may be lifted at a time and as many articles hung therefrom as the arm will contain; then another arm may be raised and so treated until all the arms are in use. In this manner a very large amount of clothing or other articles may be hung out to dry within a very circumscribed space, and this is due not only to the use of a hanger with numerous radial arms but to the fact that each arm is provided with means for supporting the articles to be dried so as to carry practically double the number of pieces that can be carried on reels with plain arms.

l vWhen the arms are lled with clothes hung out to dry and more room is needed the end loops 25 may be used to support articles of clothing or the like, and thus the capacity of the hanger is largely augmented.

I claim 1- In a clothes hanger, a clothes-supporting arm combined with a resilient wire strand extending longitudinally of said arm on opposite sides and connected by a loop projecting beyond the end thereof, said strands having a series of bends projecting outwardly from said arm, and fastening means between said bends for holding said strands fiat against said arm whereby clothes may be held and supported between the sides of the arm and the attached strand.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WM. J. THOMPSON. Vitnesses J. M. MAY, U. A. NEEsE. 

